An increasing interest has been present in scientific literature and policy making for the links between urban environments and health, as also learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic. Collaboration between urban planning and public health is therefore critical for enhancing the capabilities of a city to promote the well-being of its people. However, what leverage potential for urban health can be found in existing plans, policies, and strategies that address urban health? Starting from the relationship between urban systems and health issues, the purpose of this contribution is to broaden the systemic knowledge of urban systems and health so as to try to figure out the impact potential of local urban governance on public health. Considering the systemic nature of health issues, as defined by the World Health Organisation, this is done through a systems thinking epistemological approach. Urban health proposals are studied and assessed in four European cities (Copenhagen, London, Berlin, and Vienna). Current criticalities are found, starting from the guiding goal of such proposals, yet a systemic approach is suggested aimed at supporting and evaluating lasting and healthy urban planning and management strategies.
The European Union has seen a strong growth of electric passenger vehicles over the last decade. The steady increase in the number of electric vehicles requires a thorough examination of the current infrastructure and their future development, which are critical to the continuous market growth of this technology. The underdeveloped charging infrastructure is identified as one of the main barriers, next to the purchase price of electric vehicles. Thus, the infrastructure (supply side) and the vehicles (demand side) must coevolve and consider not only the quantitative balance between EVs and charging stations but the interlinkages with social, technical, and economic criteria for the overall system development. In this context, the methods presented in this paper address regional specificities when developing an integrated network of charging infrastructure for private and public passengers transport in an alpine region. The results of the application of the methodology to a mountainous area present the potential for replicability and highlight the importance of considering regional characteristics and of stakeholder involvement.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.